LA PAZ, June 2.–– The Bolivian government today nationalized the TR-Holdings company, which owns 50% of the stocks of the Transporte de Hidrocarburos Sociedad Anónima (Transredes) company, consolidating the process begun on May 1, 2006, the ABI news agency reported.

Bolivia nationalizes hydrocarbon transport companyTR-Holdings, which was controlled by the Ashmore investment group, was nationalized via presidential decree. President Evo Morales issued the decree at a Transredes plant in the city of Santa Cruz.

The president revealed that the transnational oil corporation had conspired against his government, citing reports that proved the company had maintained contacts with opposition provincial leaders.

This process, via which the state-owned Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) now controls almost 98% of Transredes property, where the Anglo-Dutch Shell Gas Latin America also had interests, was "transcendental," according to Hydrocarbons Minister Carlos Villegas.

During the implementation of the last decree, President Morales announced that he would continue with the state recuperation of all companies privatized in the 1990s, to fulfill the "clamorous demand of the Bolivian people."

The takeover of Transredes is one more step in the process of nationalizing the entire hydrocarbons industry, via which the country’s income from that line increased by $300 million in 2005 to $1.93 billion last year.

Translated by Granma International •